Page:Lives of the apostles of Jesus Christ (1836).djvu/327

 that unquestionably was the "coming," of which he had so often warned them, as an event for which they must be prepared; and it was partly from a misinterpretation of these words, by applying them to the final judgment, that the idle notion of John's immortality arose. John probably surviving the other apostles many years, and living to a very great age, the second generation of Christians conceived the idea of interpreting this remark of Jesus as a prophecy that his beloved disciple should never die. And John, in his gospel, knowing that this erroneous opinion was prevalent, took pains to specify the exact words of Jesus, showing that they implied no direct prophecy whatever, nor in any way alluded to the possibility of his immortality. After the ascension, John is mentioned along with the rest who were in the upper room, and is otherwise particularized on several occasions, in the Acts of the Apostles. He was the companion of Peter in the temple, at the healing of the lame man, and was evidently considered by the chief apostle, a sharer in the honors of the miracle; nor were the Sanhedrim disposed to deem him otherwise than criminally responsible for the act, but doomed him, along with Peter, to the dungeon. He is also honorably distinguished by being deputed with Peter to visit the new church in Samaria, where he united with him in imparting the confirming seal of the spirit to the new converts,—and on the journey back to Jerusalem, preached the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.

From this time no mention whatever is made of John in the Acts of the Apostles; and the few remaining facts concerning him, which can be derived from the New Testament, are such only as occur incidentally in the epistolary writings of the apostles. Paul makes a single allusion to him, in his epistle to the Galatians, where, speaking of his reception by the apostles on his second visit to Jerusalem, he mentions James, Cephas and John, as "pillars" in the church, and says that they all gave him the right hand of fellowship. This little incidental allusion, though so brief, is worth recording, since it shows that John still resided in Jerusalem, and there still maintained his eminence and his usefulness, standing like a pillar, with Cephas and James, rising high above the many, and upholding the bright fabric of a pure faith. This is the only mention ever made of him in the epistles of Paul, nor do any of the remaining writings of the New Testament contain any notice whatever of John, except those which bear his own name. But as these must all be referred to a later period, they may be left un